Other Side of the Game
by Black Ice and Blood Rain
Summary: It's easy to hate someone you don't understand. It's hard to like someone you DO understand. But how can Kagome sympathize? She's so used to her lifestyle, she's blind to another. He'll try to open her eyes as best he can, but can he? Or is he blind too?
1. Whatcha Gonna Do When They Come For You?

An air of misery revolved around Kagome, the tension between her and her driving mother more than apparent. But Yukiko Higurashi refused to give in to her daughter's sulking. When she told Kagome she would be spending the summer with her cousin in Kagoshima, a long ways away from her own comfortable home in Kochi, Kagome had laughed uncontrollably, certain her mother was joking.

But as the days wore on, Kagome started hearing the words "Sango-itoko" more and more often, and by the school year's end, a feeling of dread was seeping into her bones. Now, as she rode in her mother's red BMW, the joke wasn't so funny. It was for real.

Kagome had done everything in her power to sway her mother's mind, some of which she wasn't so proud of. She'd begged, threatened, and even thrown a tantrum, but all that got her were dashed hopes, lost dignity, and unruly hair. Finally, she just gave up, but not without one final drastic measure—the silent treatment. Armed with the resilience of her own attorney mother and stockbroker father, Kagome had yet to say a word to her mother in 36 hours. She was quite proud of herself, and was sure her mother would be too...if she weren't so frustrated with the seventeen-year-old.

"The cold shoulder, eh?" Yukiko smirked, within a few hours of noticing Kagome's silence. It had turned into one of those "when I was your age..." tales that made Kagome want to rip her ears out of her head, but she could decode the message quite clearly: "Let's see how long you can last." Not only was Kagome as stubborn as a mule, but competitive as well. Another trait her parents had given her.

The Kochi Ryoma Airport was within walking distance, or even biking distance, but Kagome wouldn't be caught dead on a bicycle, and besides, her mother didn't trust her to go to the airport alone. Yukiko planned to see Kagome off until her plane left, and from there, she was on her own. Kagome had absolutely no choice but to go to her cousin Sango's house...

She had only met her cousin three times in her life: on Sango's fourth birthday, at Sango's father's funeral, and on Kagome's eleventh birthday. Even on those occasions, Kagome didn't know her that well. Now that she was older, she still knew very little, but there was one thing she did know, and the only thing that mattered: her cousin was a country bumpkin. They actually had a farm! With disgusting animals and dirty...dirt!

It made Kagome shudder, even now, as she texted her manicured fingers off. Her mother had warned her to soak up every ounce of cell phone use she could _while _she could, because once she got to the "country"--it was what Yukiko called it the rural area in which Sango and her family lived—she would have little to no cell phone service.

_Can't believe this_, she texted to her best friend, Kikyou. _My mom has me going to Kochi_.

**Lol**, replied Kikyou, and Kagome scowled. Her misery was _not _preordained as the entertainment for others!

_Not lol ,you bitch_, she typed furiously. _It's horrible! My country cousin lives on a farm._

**Really**?

_I have no reason to lie_.

**That sucks**.

_Duh_.

"Well, we're here!" Yukiko announced, and Kagome put up her cell phone with a snort.

"Wow. The airport. Gee, how fantastical." She grumbled, well aware that she'd begun talking again. Not that it mattered anyway; she wouldn't be seeing her mother again for a little more than two months, and Kagome couldn't be more divided about it. On one hand, she absolutely despised her mother for putting her through this hellish torment, and would be glad to get away from her; on the other hand, the only place she could escape her tormentor was the one place she never wanted to go. She would rather just stay at the airport.

Unfortunately, as her mother put it, "I've already paid for those damn tickets, so you're getting on that plane even if I have to embarrass you to do it." With a catlike smile, she added, "And I _know _you don't want _that_." It was so true.

"Come on, Kagome. You're making this worse than it is. You know what they say: there's nothing to fear but fear itself."

"First off, I'm not _scared_. Second, that saying was _totally _inappropriate for the situation." Kagome threw the car door open and got out of the car, while Yukiko just rolled her eyes.

"That may be. But that still doesn't change the fact that you're going to Kochi, sweetheart."

"Don't call me that. You're sentencing me to a slow and tortuous death and I would appreciate you not using affectionate monikers at this time. If you were to change your mind, however..." Kagome trailed off hopefully, and Yukiko quirked an amused eyebrow, popping the trunk open for her to get her suitcases.

"I think you have my answer...sweetheart."

"Mother!" Kagome groaned, frustrated at her vain attempts. "How can you send off your only child to a fate of..._farming_?!"

"You do have a younger brother, you know." Yukiko pointed out.

"Then your favorite child!"

"I love you both equally."

"Then your _oldest _child!!" Kagome practically screamed, maddened at Yukiko. "God, Mother, can't you see how much this irks me?!"

"Of course I do. It's hard not to when you keep whining. But I'm trying to pretend I don't." Yukiko smiled calmly, getting some of Kagome's bags. "Now come on, get your luggage so we can get on this plane." She headed towards the airport, while Kagome hung back, trying to walk slowly with the hopes of missing the flight. "And don't you dare dawdle, or you can forget about coming back home at all!" Kagome tossed back her head and screamed in her anger. When passersby stared, she pinked and grabbed the rest of the bags, slamming the trunk closed before running after her mother.

* * *

"Now, listen to your Emi-oba-san."

"No."

"And do your share around the house; help Sango and Kouhaku out with the farmwork."

"_Definite _no."

"Kami knows you don't clean up around _our _house." Yukiko continued, as though

"Then why do you expect me to do so at someone else's?"

"Because you'll clean or you'll stay there for your senior year. I'm sure you'd _love _Kochi Nishi Senior High."

"..." Yukiko kissed her daughter on the forehead, leaving a stain that Kagome would wipe away as soon as Yukiko was out of sight.

"I love you, and I know you'll get over this. You'll have fun—I just know it."

"Mm." Kagome grunted, boarding the plane. When she took her seat, she strapped on her seatbelt—all the safety formalities bored her, so she decided to just ignore them when the stewardess started talking—and took out her iPod, going straight to her favorite dark depression song, Stan by Eminem. As she stared out the window, thinking about the rolling tumbleweeds sure to soon cross her path, she clicked a few buttons to put the song on repeat.

This would be a very long flight.

And yet it wasn't, because when Kagome awoke from her three-hour nap, it was to the captain saying that they would soon be landing in Kyushu. The energy in her battery icon on her iPod was yellow, signaling that she needed to charge it soon or it would die. She took the earplugs from her ears and sighed, dreading the plane's touchdown. The dream she'd had did nothing to allay her gloom: she stood alone on a dry dirt road, with no sense of place or time, lost. No matter where she ran, she couldn't find a single member of civilization, until she stumbled upon her cousin's farm by accident. She stared in horror at the grinning family, holding pitchforks in their hands, and she ran away again, but they kept popping back up. Her mother, nor her brother or father, was anywhere to be found. It was rather depressing.

As Kagome tucked her iPod and earphones back into her purse, she felt the plane slow, and looked around at the other passengers. Most were engaged in lively conversations, happy to be being reunited with family for the summer. Kagome scowled. She shouldn't've even _been _on this plane, and yet there she was, being shipped off and dumped onto her country kinfolk. She could almost hear the Goofyesque hyuk-hyuk-hyukking of their laughter...probably directed at her and her misery.

Her dismal mood was hardly lifted when she got off the plane, looking around for the sign that would have her name plastered onto it like a death sentence. If anything, her temperament darkened further, when she set eyes upon the sign, barely noticing the tall, pretty brunette holding it. She quirked an eyebrow, making her way over.

"Kagome?" The brunette smiled, with none of the country twang she'd expected beforehand.

"Uh...Sango?" Kagome clarified carefully.

"It's been a long time, hasn't it?" Sango gave her a small hug, further shocking Kagome; she was expecting more of a...more overdone welcome wagon. As in, giddy screaming and tight, suffocating hugs, overdone. But this girl seemed to be having none of that; in fact, she seemed almost normal.

"Yeah...it has." Kagome muttered, discreetly brushing off her expensive designer jacket. The gesture didn't go unnoticed, but Sango ignored it for the moment and began walking. Kagome followed after her. "What was it, my eleventh birthday party, that I last saw you?"

"I'm surprised you remember." There was a cool edge to Sango's tone, one Kagome wasn't ultimately sure she liked. "So let me guess—your mother forced you to come here?"

"N—yeah." Kagome sighed, feeling busted for some reason. "I don't want to, like...cause offense or anything, but I would so much rather be spending my summer with my friends, or in Italy...or maybe France. Not in Kyushu."

"Because you believe we're a bunch of hicks, correct?"

"..." Kagome was numb with shock at the girl's dead-on analyzing.

"Well, let's get something straight, Kagome." Sango stopped right outside of the airplane entrance and turned to face Kagome, her expression flat. "I don't want you here any more than you want to be here. So if you stay out of my way, I'll stay out of yours, _city girl_. Do we have an understanding?" Kagome's jaw dropped.

"You _bitch_!" She blurted out, forgetting herself in the shock of the moment. "You hugged me! With your dusty, farmhand hands!"

"Dutybound. I'll be getting these clothes dry-cleaned tomorrow." Her voice was low, and Kagome would have said more—she might have even strangled her haughty yokel cousin—but Emi, Sango's mother, came rushing towards them out of her little blue car, engulfing Kagome in a big hug.

_This was more what I'd expected_, Kagome thought, glaring daggers at Sango when Emi wasn't looking, and affixing the fakest smile she'd ever created to her face when Emi looked at her.

"Kagome! I haven't seen you in _ages_! You've gotten so big!"

"Thanks, oba-san."

"Call me Emi-oba," the older woman waved Kagome off, grinning brightly. Kagome sensed none of Sango's contempt for her presence in Emi, and it seemed as though Sango was the only one unhappy that she was there.

"Sure...Emi-oba." Kagome disguised her smirk, but Sango saw right through it and kept her face level.

"Want me to drive back, Ma?" She offered.

"Of course, Sango, darling." Emi handed Sango the keys.

"Kagome, come with. I'll show you our car." Before Kagome could protest, Sango had linked their arms and basically frog-marched Kagome to the car, Emi following joyfully.

"Like I said, cause me no trouble and there'll be none." Sango said quietly, so her mother wouldn't overhear.

"Bullshit." Kagome hissed. "You don't like me? I'll be making my visit here hell for _you_."

* * *

Black Ice: Aw, who doesn't love a bit of kindred drama early on in the story?!


	2. Work Ain't Honest, But It Pays The Bills

Kagome's arrival at the farm was exactly everything she'd anticipated. A two-story house and a large field divided by a fence into two parts: one part littered with beef cattle, and on the other side of the fence were eighteen plowed rows. It didn't seem that anything had been planted there..._yet_, Kagome thought dreadfully as the car stopped in the dirt driveway.

"Well, here we are." Emi sighed pleasantly.

"It's not much," Sango intoned, with a pointed look at Kagome in the backseat—Kagome narrowed her eyes at her malicious cousin--, "but it's something."

"Oh, Sango." Emi rolled her eyes as they all got out of the car. "Why don't you help your cousin with her bags? I'm sure she's got plenty."

"Oh, I do." Kagome grinned, and Sango scowled, bumping Kagome out of her way as she opened the trunk.

"I hope you're comfortable now, because it's your first day. You'll be let off easy. But come next week, you're gonna be covered from head to toe in dirt, and I don't mean the film of grime that usually seems to accompany you."

"Ah!" Kagome scoffed, outraged. "It's called a tan, bitch! And you don't even know me to think that!"

"I don't have to. Nor do I want to. As long as you do your share of work, I don't give a damn about you." Sango grabbed at least three of Kagome's heavier bags and carted them into the house without any apparent effort, leaving Kagome to gape at her almost inhuman strength.

_Then again, I suppose that's what happens when you work a farm. _With a shake of her head, Kagome got the other two bags, struggled to close the trunk, and went into the house as well.

"You'll be staying in Sango's room, of course." Emi told her, and Kagome almost groaned out loud. "Just make yourself at home! I've got to go to work, so you girls have fun, okay?"

"Okay, Emi-oba." Kagome nodded, feeling tired.

"Sango, have dinner started by the time I get back, okay, sweetie?" Emi called up the stairs, and Sango shouted back, "Okay, Ma!" Kagome went up the stairs and heard the front door close as soon as she entered Sango's room. It was rather plain, and smaller than her own. In truth, Kagome would rather sleep on the couch, and told her host so. Sango's emotionless eyes locked onto Kagome's as she dumped Kagome's bags onto the floor and kicked them into the corner.

"HEY!" Kagome gasped. "Those—those bags cost more than your fucking income!"

"Then you'd better watch them. I may mosey on into town and pawn the suckers off for a hefty profit." Sango twanged exaggeratedly, and Kagome growled, putting down the luggage in her hands on the nicely made bed against the leftmost wall. Sango's bed, adored with red blankets and red pillows, was to the right. Kagome looked around, noticing that most of the things in the room were either red or black.

"Like red much?"

"Obvious much?" Sango mumbled, plopping onto her bed and flipping on the television.

"_I _prefer blue." Kagome smirked, boastfully gesturing to her expensive clothing.

"I don't think you were asked." Kagome pursed her lips, slighted, and glanced at the television sitting atop the high dresser beside the window, close to the door.

"Well, well! A TV! I'm quite shocked; I was expecting more of an...eight-inch, black-and-white deal, if that. But this is much nicer."

"You know, I'm about sick of your constant ragging on my life, okay? I may not be filthy or rich like you, but I like the way I live. So as far as I'm concerned, you can just shut the fuck up, city bitch." If Kagome didn't have common sense, she would attack Sango. But after having seen her display of strength, Kagome wasn't quite so willing to fight her, no matter how angry she got.

With a huff, Kagome left the room, slamming the door behind her, and bumped right into a young boy, who looked somewhere around fourteen years old.

"Whoops—sorry." He blinked, shaking his head. "You're Kagome, right?"

"Yeah...you must be, uh..." Kagome snapped her fingers, trying to remember the kid's name.

"Kouhaku." He smiled, and Kagome grinned sheepishly.

"Right, right, Kouhaku." He seemed much more understanding than his bitch of an older sister. As if reading her mind, he said, "I can understand why you barely know us. We don't see you, and you don't see us. But maybe that's why you're here, right? So you can get to know us better."

"I don't think I'd like to get to know your sister better. She's a bit...disagreeable."

"Yeah, I think she's on the rag or something." Kouhaku shook his head. "She was against you coming here from the very start, and I don't know why."

"Me neither." Kagome put her hands on her hips, then gave Kouhaku a small smile. "You're not so bad, kid. Way better than your sister by miles."

"I know. I'm the favorite." Kouhaku bragged, and Kagome laughed a little.

"You actually kinda remind me a lot of my little brother...he's wacky too, in a good way."

"I like being "wacky"." Kouhaku grinned. "Hey, you like music?"

"Do I?" Kagome snorted. "My iPod's full to bursting with illegally downloaded tunes."

"So's mine...I've got a bunch of CD's, too. Wanna see?"

"Sure, why not?" Kagome went into Kouhaku's room, looking around appreciatively. It was much more decorative than Sango's room, with posters and pictures of friends, and it certainly reflected Kouhaku's easygoing manner. Enlarged pictures taken at concerts were all over, and Kagome looked at one in particular, recognizing her favorite singer.

"That's Amy Winehouse!" Kagome gaped, and Kouhaku smiled, grabbing a CD titled _Frank_.. "I've _never _been to one of her shows!"

"Yeah, it took a lot to get there, but I finally did...I'm glad I did, 'cause there hasn't been another show since."

"You have wonderful taste in music." Kagome commented eagerly, once more forgetting herself when she took the CD from Kouhaku and looked at it. It was actually _signed _by Amy herself. "Not only that, but you're the luckiest bastard this side of the world." She sighed, a tinge of longing in her tone.

"Yeah, I know. I also met Blake Civil-Fielder, but he was kind of an asshole." Kouhaku frowned somewhat.

"I'll bet. Doesn't he look like one?"

"Totally. Say, Kagome, I was heading into town to see Twilight with my friends. Wanna come?"

"Yeah?" Kagome thought a moment. "Wait, is Sango coming?"

"I said my friends, not my sister."

"Heh." Kagome grinned. "Well, I've never been very interested in seeing the movie. I read the book, see, and I've seen the commercials, and the guy who plays Edward doesn't look nearly as hot as the guy described in the book."

"I thought the same thing about Bella. But then I figured I wouldn't pay any attention to the ugliness of the characters, and just try and follow the plot. You up for it?"

"I guess it couldn't be too bad." Kagome shrugged. "It's not a long walk, is it?"

"No, not at all. It's just a few blocks to my friend Inuyasha's house, and he's got a truck."

"Ahem..._truck_?" Kagome laughed nervously, a rusty old pickup truck pushing to the forefront of her mind.

But the truck was, like many other things Kagome was discovering, nothing she was expecting. And truth be told, neither was Inuyasha.

When Kouhaku had come calling for Inuyasha, an undeniably beautiful specimen came running from the backyard, without a shirt on, and a hoe slung over his shoulder. His visage reminded the dumbstricken Kagome of Paul Bunyan, for some reason. He wiped sweat from his forehead and nodded to acknowledge Kouhaku.

"Who's the girl?" He grunted bluntly, placing the hoe up against the house. "That the cousin you been talkin' about?"

"Yes, she is." Kouhaku grinned, and Kagome cleared her throat, smiling as she extended her hand.

"Kagome Higurashi."

"Inuyasha Onohara." His rough, calloused hand perfectly matched his gruff voice, and Kagome's smile widened as she thought of what those hands could do to her.

Despite the dirt staining his palm, Kagome didn't wipe her hand after they stopped shaking.

"Pleased to meet you."

"Yeah." Inuyasha turned to face Kouhaku. "What do you want, kid?"

"You to take us into town. We wanna see Twilight."

"That so? Too bad. I'm not finished hoeing. I gotta have my mother's flower beds done before sundown."

"That's really admirable, Inuyasha-san—being so honorbound to your mother." Kagome flirted, coquettishly yet subtly. She'd conveniently forgotten how horrible she'd been to her own mother. She resolved to call her—and thank her for forcing her to come here.

"See, Kouhaku? Even a girl knows the importance of some good work." Inuyasha smirked, but the smile slid right off of Kagome's face. It figured he would be a chauvinist.

"Jeez, Inuyasha, you can pick it back up when we get back, dude! The flowers seeds aren't wilting or anything! I know Izayoi-san will forgive you this _one _transgression." Kouhaku said sarcastically. "You know she'd want you to go."

"Mmm..." Inuyasha scratched at his sinewy neck. "I guess I could tag along. Let me just throw on a shirt and I'll be ready. Come in the house if you want."

"Ew. He's not gonna shower or anything?" Kagome murmured to Kouhaku as they went into the house after Inuyasha. "He's just gonna go into town dirty and sweaty and stuff like that?"

"A lot of us do it whenever we don't have time to wash up." Kouhaku shrugged. "You'll see a lot of guys looking like that in town. We work hard for a bunch of country bumpkins." Kagome initially froze in embarrassment, thinking he knew what Kagome thought of them, but it seemed he was just kidding.

"Hehe...yeah..." Kagome muttered, shaking her head.


	3. Gave Me The Life That I Came To Live

"So, you're not seeing the movie with us, Inuyasha?" Kagome asked as he drove. The truck was indeed a pickup, but it was clean and looked like at least an '06 model, so it wasn't too bad.

"Nope. No time for it."

"Liar—you've got plenty time!" Kouhaku accused.

"Look Kouhaku, I got a full agenda. I gotta finish hoeing, then plant the seeds, then fertilize the field and plant _those _seeds. Then I gotta come back in the hosue, take a shower, and fix my mama's dinner." He listed effortlessly. "I ain't got the time for movies. Maybe some other time, though." Kouhaku sighed, shaking his head.

"Whatever..."

"So...how is she?" Inuyasha asked after a long time. "Sango, I mean." Kagome's eyes darted towards him. That was never a good sign. Was Inuyasha taken? By _Sango_, of all people? He was obviously chauvinist, but maybe only towards girls he viewed as weak...Sango was definitely stronger than she...

"Still all bitched out as per usual. She didn't make that great an impression on our cousin here."

"Those are some real pretty clothes you got on." Inuyasha said off-handedly.

"Thanks." Kagome grinned. At least he could see past the plow.

"You must be not from here."

"No, I'm from Kochi."

"City girl." The boys pronounced together, startling Kagome.

"There's your reason." Inuyasha chuckled. "City people really grind Go-chan's gears." Kagome frowned a little at the affection with which he spoke of her.

"More like _Doku_-chan, if you ask me." She muttered, calling Sango poisonous.

"Well, I tell you what: if you want Sango to like you, you gotta ditch the prissy clothes. Hell, that might be in _your _best interest as well, if you're planning to get some work in this summer."

"I don't." Kagome huffed. "No offense, guys, but I didn't wanna be here."

"We can understand that." Kouhaku said.

"Your sister sure couldn't."

"That's 'cause no one ever plucked her from the warm bosom of security and dumped her off somewhere she'd never been." Kouhaku elaborated.

"Ah. If the shoe were on the other foot, huh?" Kagome rolled her eyes, and looked out the window. Talk about a one-road town—every single building was packed together in a circle, and only one road seemed to lead out of town. It resembled a cul-de-sac.

_Damn, this place is tiny! _She thought despairingly, as Inuyasha stopped the truck.

"All right, out you go."

"Rude." Kouhaku smirked, opening his car door, but when Kagome was about to open hers, Inuyasha looked back at her with a smile.

"Awful nice to meet you, Kagome. I never been to the city before, but it's comfortin' to think the girls there are all as pretty as you." Kagome pinked, smiling back at him.

"Well, they're not, but thanks anyway." She got out of the car and followed Kouhaku across the pavement to the movie theater, where a few people stood, apparently waiting for Kouhaku. They looked around Kagome's age, and briefly Kagome wondered just how Kouhaku managed to have such older friends.

"Hey, guys." Kouhaku greeted, and now that Kagome was close, she saw that they wore dollar shore t-shirts and unlabeled jeans, as well as off-brand sneakers, and she couldn't help a slight grimace. To add to their unappealing look, their clothes were rather dirty, justified by what the girl said.

"Ma's got me plowing already." She complained, flipping her hair out of her face. "Woke me up at four this mornin'."

"Sorry for you, June." Kouhaku grinned. "Guys, this is Kagome, my cousin. She just came here this afternoon. Kagome, this is Juniko, Masahara, and Kenichi."

"How come your face is all scrunched up?" Masahara squinted his eyes at her, and Kagome blushed at being caught looking down on them.

"She must've caught a whiff of you, Masahara." Kouhaku joked, and they all laughed. Kagome sniffed subtly and almost gagged—he stunk of manure! How in the world would they be let in the movie theater like that?!

"Hey, the only thing I smell like is a long day's work." Masahara grinned proudly. "I had to spade the 'nure early this mornin', so I guess I feel June's pain."

"At least _somebody _does." Juniko nudged him playfully, then looked at Kagome curiously. "You got on some powerful nice clothes there, Kagome." She tried her best not to grimace this time at the southern drawl with which Juniko pronounced her name. "Your farm must not've started workin' yet."

"Uh..."

"Kagome's not from here, guys." Kouhaku quickly filled in for Kagome's uneasy hesitating. "She's, uh, from Kochi, in Shikoku." Their eyes went wide, then Juniko's narrowed a little.

"City girl, huh?" Juniko pursed her lips, looking contemptibly at Kagome. "No wonder those clothes are so nice." Kagome scowled. These country females definitely had a problem.

"Aw, hush up, June." Masahara waved her off. "I think it's right impressive! We never had a city girl come around here. What's it like in Kochi, Kagome?"

"Uh..."

"Let's not bother Kagome with a bunch of questions, huh, people?" Kouhaku chuckled. "We should get into the theater, before we miss the movie."

"Actually, Kouhaku...I think I'll catch the movie another time. Maybe I'll look around this...quaint town."

"Sure." Kouhaku shrugged, and he, Masahara, and Kenichi went into the theater, but Juniko lagged behind, sneering at Kagome.

"You might think you're better than us 'cause of your fancy clothes and your makeup and your plastic nails, city chicken, but you're not. You might've fooled Masahara and Kouhaku, but I got my eye on you. Try anything funny and you'll be on your be-hind on the next dirt road back to Shikoku."

"Look, bitch, I never said anything to you!" Kagome growled, clenching her fists. "I never said anything to anybody! I didn't even fucking wanna come here! And whores like you are the reason why!" She impetuously shoved Juniko, and the girl's eyes flashed with anger, signaling retaliation, but before she could, Kouhaku called her name from inside the theater.

"You're lucky. The next time I catch you around, you won't be so lucky."

"Ooh, I'm shaking in my Gucci." Kagome mocked, and walked away from Juniko. She couldn't _believe _it! How dare that— Kagome was actually too pissed for words. She'd barely been there a day—the plane arrived at 9:27 that morning. Now, here it was, barely half past four, and already she'd made enemies with a cousin she'd never truly known and some stupid girl with an apparent death wish.

She was feeling homesick.

Kagome withdrew her phone from her purse and dialed Kikyou, wandering aimlessly around the rather oversized cul-de-sac.

"Moshi." Kikyou's cool voice answered, and Kagome breathed a sigh of relief.

"Kik, darling, I'm so glad to have a voice of reason in my ears." She smiled wearily.

"Kagome? I'm surprised you get any signal at all!"

"So am I...but I'm so homesick, I'm nearly _physically _sick."

"So hop the next plane and come back."

"It's really not that simple, Kik, but I do appreciate your simplified view."

"Aside from the obvious, why are things so bad?"

"It seems my cousin Sango, who I've yet to see in six years, harbors some kind of hate for me, as well as all "city girls"."

"That's typical." Kikyou reasoned. "They think our lives are easier than theirs, so they hate what they're completely ignorant of."

"Kik, I've only been here some eight hours or so, and from the looks of things, our lives _are _easier. _Much _easier. But there was nothing wrong with that! I don't want to...toil in the hot sun! I'll sweat out my perm!" Kagome whined.

"I completely understand." Her best friend sympathized. "Believe me, I love a good tan as much as the next girl, but that blazing Kyushu sun is certainly nothing to dawdle beneath, I can tell you that."

"I wish I were going to the Virgin Islands with you."

"So do I, sweetums, but you're not, and it's all the sadder. But don't worry—I'll be on line for you throughout the entire summer, here to console you if need be."

"Kik, you're the best."

"I know." Kagome was amused at the image of Kikyou's smirk that she knew was there. "So...what are their malls like?"

"I've yet to see one. I doubt there are any. But their fashion sense alone is too atrocious for any mall to handle."

"Oh?"

"Unlabeled pants, off-brand shoes that read "Nikko" instead of "Nike"--"

Kikyou laughed, hard, on the other line, and Kagome chuckled a little herself. "It's pretty bad, isn't it?"

"Definitely!"

"I'm just glad I brought my own clothes...but when I run out, it seems I'll have to send for some. Mother knows I have exclusive tastes."

"_Nikko_!" Kikyou was almost breathless with laughter, and Kagome snickered.

"Jeez, girl, calm down." She gave her hysterically laughing friend a few more moments to chill out.

"Okay...it's all gone now." Kikyou sighed, still giggling.

"You thought that was funny, you'll think this is hilarious."

"No, wait, I can't take any more...my intestines are knotting!"

"They actually expect me to do farm work!"

"...Oh, God, that's not funny. That's not funny at all. That's tragic." Kikyou murmured.

"You're right, it is."

"What do things look like there?"

"Why don't you come down and see for yourself?" Kagome smirked.

"I think I'd rather rely on your word as evidence, thank you."

"It's like...from my cousin's house there's a long dirt road. There are a lot of houses along the road, and when the houses stop, you come into town. I have to tell you, Kikyou..." Kagome looked around pitifully at her surroundings. "It is _nothing _to be cracked up about, even by _their _standards."

"I can believe that. Wholeheartedly, in fact."

"It's like, there's a big circular spot of pavement with _nothing _in the middle, and a bunch of small buildings surround the pavement. It's like a dead-end street here! Except there's a street leading out of town, but I dare not go that way; I might get lost."

"That's...wow. Are there even any streetlights?"

"I don't think so. I guess they believe in that light pollution junk."

"I don't need to see any stars, nor do I want to." Kikyou declared flatly.

"Let me see...it looks like a candy store, a flower shop, a little theater, a clothing store—no mall, I remind you—a grocery store, a _butcher's shop..._" Kagome retched as she saw the dead animals hanging in the window.

"My _God_!" Kikyou groaned, her voice filled with disgust. "That's just...grotesque! Can you see the--"

"Yes, I can see the butchered animals, Kikyou. I'm just as grossed out as you."

"What else is there?"

"Looks like a bakery, and drug store. It's...it's really piss-poor, Kik, I swear."

"Like I said...I believe you completely. Hey, take a picture and send it to me. But try and edit the butcher shop out of the shop. I'm on the vegan thing now." Kagome rolled her eyes, then snapped a shot of the small area, sending it to Kikyou.

"Do you see it?"

"..."

"Kikyou?"

"You can't be serious. This is no _town_. This isn't even a village. This is a damn tiny community of rabbits, and it should be torn down."

"Don't I know it." Kagome smirked, and saw Inuyasha leaving the flower shop, his presence striking her as peculiar. Come to think, she didn't remember ever seeing him leave, but his truck was nowhere to be seen. "Hey, Kik, I'll call you back later, okay, babe?"

"I guess so. Make the best of things, Kagome." Kagome flipped her phone shut and called his name. He looked over at her, startled.

"Kagome?"

"Hey." She jogged over to him with a small smile. Even if he were sexist, Kagome was sure he could be persuaded to think otherwise. "I, uh, thought you said you had to go plant some seeds for your mom."

"I thought _you _were gonna go watch a movie with Kouhaku and the guys."

"Eh, I turned them down. Juniko didn't really strike my fancy."

"Ah. She's kinda irritating to me, too. The reason I came back is 'cause my mom wanted camellias, not wisterias..." Inuyasha blew a sigh that betrayed his slight annoyance at his mother, and Kagome grinned.

"What's the difference? I'm a little ignorant when it comes to flowers."

"Camellias are white or pink, but wisterias are pink to mauve or violet-blue. That's all I know. My mother prefers the white camellias and mauve wisterias." Inuyasha shrugged. "Hey, wanna come help me plant 'em?"

"Uh..." Kagome hesitated, obviously averse to the thought of raw dirt in her nails. But the mere thought of one-upping Sango, if only in taking her (ex-)boyfriend, then a little grime could be suffered. Just this once. "Sure, I-I guess." She smiled shakily, hoping this would be worth it.

* * *

Black Ice: Hmm. (muses) This chapter was particularly long, wasn't it? I like the way this story is going, though, unlike many others we've done...which I hated...mm.

Blood Rain: (mutters) Like your opinion's important.

Black Ice: What did you say?

Blood Rain: (loudly) Like your opinion is important.

Black Ice: Oh. That's what I thought you said.


	4. Do I Really Want My Baby?

Kagome wasn't as discomforted planting seeds as she thought she'd be. It was especially gratifying that Sango's house wasn't very far away from Inuyasha's—in fact, if one stood on the back porch, one could see what was going on in Inuyasha's backyard...and that was exactly what Sango was doing. She sat on the banister, arms crossed and a flat expression on her face as she stared daggers at Kagome's head. Kagome happily dug little rows in the dirt, dropping the seeds inside. Neither mentioned their spectator, and Kagome was content that way.

"Well, that's it." Inuyasha sighed, getting up from the ground. Kagome had never dirtied her clothes and she didn't plan to; she had simply squatted down as low as she possibly could to satisfy both her want to plant the seeds and her need to remain spotless. "The garden's done. Just gotta water these troublesome bastards and we'll be done." He smiled at her again, making her redden slightly. "I appreciate you riskin' your pretty clothes just to help me."

"Yeah, well...when people need help, I have no problem...helping." Mentally, Kagome smacked herself in the forehead. What kind of lameness was _that_?!

"I can see that." Inuyasha chuckled, and Kagome was more than thankful that he didn't acknowledge her pathetic response.

"Well, I should probably get back to my, uh, cousin's house. I don't know when my aunt gets off from work, but I don't wanna be outside after dark, and it's looking pretty...dark." There was something wrong with Kagome, she just knew it. Her mother must've slammed her on her head as a child—not dropped; just plain _slammed._

"Want me to walk you?"

"Uh..." Kagome glanced back at the back porch. Sango had retreated into the house; it would do no good to have Inuyasha walk her all the way there, and she not even see it. "Nah, I think I can manage."

"Okay." Inuyasha shrugged. "See you tomorrow, Kagome." As Kagome headed for the house, she noticed that Inuyasha seemed like the only person here—aside from Kouhaku, which was obvious—who didn't call her "city girl", excepting the first instance in which they told her the reason for Sango's dislike of her.

Her turning of the knob on the front door was met with resistance and she sighed, resting her forehead against the wood. She should've known better; Sango had locked the doors. Kagome knocked—there was no doorbell, which was completely unsurprising—civilly at first, but when no one came, she started banging. Though her fist ached, the sheer repetition of her rapping threatened to do damage to the ancient door. Apparently sensing the imminent danger, the door flew open and Kagome stumbled.

"You _better _let me in...bitch." She grumbled, stepping through the threshold and into the house. "Jeez, what's your damn problem?! I know you don't like me. Fine, whatever. But you could at least let me in the house! God! Where's Emi-oba?"

"Minding her business, as some of us should try doing." Sango replied coolly, sitting on the stairs and staring up at the ceiling. Kagome smirked, crossing her arms.

"Oh-ho. I see what this is about. You saw me and Inuyasha, huh?" She laughed smugly.

"I don't think that's much to be proud of."

"Oh, but _I _do. He was your ex-boyfriend, was he not?"

"Nope."

"Ha! I knew—wait, what?"

"We never dated. _Ever_." Kagome narrowed her eyes at her cousin.

"You're lying." She dismissed with a flick of her wrist.

"No, I'm not." Sango looked straight into Kagome's eyes, and Kagome could have sworn out loud at the clarity in Sango's dark blues, was it not for the fact that Sango would find it all too satisfying. "I've never even liked Inuyasha."

"Now _that's _a lie! He asked about you!"

"Everyone asks about everyone around here. People even ask about other people's animals. It's called "local custom", as well as "common courtesy"."

"We don't do it in the city." Kagome snapped back.

"Because city people like yourself are neither local _or _courteous." Sango said calmly.

"Why would he ask about you if he didn't like you?"

"I don't know whether he likes me or not. The fact still remains, however, that I don't reciprocate feelings I don't know exist."

"..." Kagome narrowed her eyes even harder, making them look nearly closed. "You're think you're so damn clever. You're not clever. You're _nothing_!"

"That may be." Sango idly scratched her nose, and Kagome pushed past her to get upstairs.

"And I'm _not _sleeping in your room tonight! I don't trust you not to slash my throat while I sleep!"

"Likewise." Kagome knocked on Kouhaku's room door, which muffled the song "Forgive Me" by Three Days Grace blasting on his speakers.

"Kouhaku!" Kagome screamed, trying to make him hear her above the music. The music stopped and he came to the door, in an undershirt and shorts. "Dude, you're gonna deafen yourself in here. And you look like you're ready for bed."

"Yep." Kouhaku nodded. "'Cause, see, this week is gonna be the most laidback week of my life. Then...come Sunday morning...it begins again."

"What?"

"The _work._"

"Well, check this out, workaholic. I refuse to sleep in your bitchy sister's room tonight or any other night, so can I sleep in yours?"

"Sure, why not? I got this inflatable mattress that I've been dying to try, but Mom wouldn't let me. She says "save it for company". Well, now we finally got company!" Kagome grinned and entered Kouhaku's room as he went to his closet and retrieved a lumpy blue mass, one side of which was covered in velvet; the other completely plastic. "Now...from what I know of this thing, it's unsafe to blow it up with your mouth and stuff, 'cause then you'll, like, suffocate or something. So then you gotta use a blow dryer." Kagome looked expectantly at him. "We don't have a blow dryer. You probably knew that, though, right?" She nodded with a chuckle. "So I'm at a loss for how to blow it up. Any ideas?"

"How about this? You be the chivalrous guy who lets me sleep in his bed, and _you _sleep on the wrinkly deflated mattress." Kagome beamed.

"No way! That's a gyp!"

"Not necessarily!" Kagome countered, amused. "You could get the cushions off the couch and put under the mattress!"

"Why can't _you _do that?"

"Because I've got back problems, and it's unsafe for me to sleep on an uneven surface."

"Liar..." Kouhaku sighed, but he left the room anyway. Triumphant, Kagome plopped onto Kouhaku's black comforter and reveled in the softness of his bed. She had expected his bed to be all hard and uncomfortable, but she was pleasantly surprised.

Her cousin returned with three couch cushions and fixed up his pallet on the floor. "Could you at least give me some pillows?" Kagome tossed a couple of the flatter pillows his way; she liked fluffy ones. "Thanks."

"G'night, kid." Kagome sighed, tired suddenly. It really had been a long day, feeling more like a week instead of...she glanced at Kouhaku's skull clock hanging on the wall, mentally interpreting the Roman numerals as ten forty-five. It felt more like a week than a mere twelve or so hours.

Yet, somehow, even as Kagome closed her eyes, she figured things weren't _that _bad...

* * *

"That's not fair, Mom!" Sango fumed, clenching her fists on the table in the kitchen. Kagome had the grin of a feline upon her face, while Kouhaku fought not to fall asleep in his bowl of cereal. Emi, who sat at the head of the table, simply continued eating her oatmeal. Kagome couldn't be happier—Sango had slipped and forgotten her facade of amicableness with Kagome in front of her mother, simply because Emi declared that Kagome wouldn't be doing any work in her first week.

"I don't want to hear another word about it, Sango. I know it's difficult, but let's at least give Kagome some time to adjust to our little town. We don't want to drive her like a workhorse."

"Why?!" Sango yelled. "_We're _driven like workhorses!"

"You _live _here." Emi drawled. "No one's forcing either of you to do anything, but if you want life to continue the way it is, you know what has to be done. All of us do our share around this house, Sango, and you know that."

"But _Mom_, how adjusted can you get?! She's already been around enough to know where everything is!" Emi said nothing, eating a spoonful of her oatmeal. "MOTHER! Are you even _listening _to me?!" Emi looked sharply at her daughter.

"I heard every word you said, Sango, and if you don't stop saying them, I'm going to box your ears so hard you_ won't_ hear." Face burning with embarrassment and righteous anger, Sango snapped her mouth shut, glaring down at her bowl of cereal. Kagome almost felt bad for Sango; being scolded by your mother in front of your worst nemesis was no laughing matter.

Then again, there was the matter of that pesky "almost".

"Gosh, Sango," Kagome sighed, feigning innocence, "I feel so bad. Emi-oba, if you want, I'll do some of the farmwork this week. I don't know much about it, but I can always try..." She was expecting Emi to decline.

Yet another surprise.

"Well, that's what Sango and Kouhaku are here for—to help you get accustomed to it." Emi smiled at Kagome. "I appreciate your readiness, Kagome, so Kouhaku will show you how things are done around here." Kagome blinked, glancing over at Kouhaku, who had started at his name, mumbling incoherently. She then looked at Sango, whose head was too far bent for Kagome to see her face, but she did see the telltale trembling shoulders. The bitch was _laughing_! "Whoops—it's about time for me to head off to work. See you kids tonight!" Emi ate the rest of her food and put it in the sink before leaving the house. The clock upon the wall—in the shape of a rooster—ticked rather slowly, audible within the silence that engulfed the house.

The next sound was raucous laughter coming from Sango. Kagome huffed, crossing her arms, and Kouhaku emitted a loud snore, finally laying his head on the table.

"You—you're such an _idiot_!" Sango guffawed, nearly falling out of her chair. "What the hell, did you think she was gonna say no?!"

"That's the only fucking reason I even—agh!" Kagome grumbled, tossing her plastic blue bowl and silver spoon into the dishwater. The clatter woke Kouhaku, who loudly muttered, "I'm up! It's Sango's turn to milk the...chicken..."

"Wake up, boy." Sango grinned, getting up and shaking his shoulder. He groaned, glaring at her with red eyes. "Have you been drinking or something? Why are you so sleepy?"

"I slept on the floor last night." He yawned, making Sango recoil from his horrible morning breath.

"Um...wow. You should seriously go brush your teeth, Kouhaku." She grimaced.

"Serves you right for setting me up." Kagome seethed, as Kouhaku headed upstairs to the bathroom.

"I didn't do _anything_." Sango smirked, crossing her arms. "You set yourself up."

"Shut up, before I box your ears." Kagome mocked, and Sango's smirk fell abruptly. "What the hell does that even _mean_?"

"This." Sango swiftly balled her fists and clapped them hard against the sides of Kagome's head. She shrieked, feeling a dull ringing in her reddening ears.

"WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO TO ME, YOU SLUT?!?!"

"Besides practically deafen you?" Sango snickered, but all Kagome heard was that ringing. She knew Sango was saying _something_, but all she saw were moving lips and heard nothing more.

"I _hate _you." Kagome growled, yanking the freezer door open to get herself some ice.

"That's wonderful, because the feeling's mutual."


	5. Brother, Tell Me What To Do

"God, there's so much to do, I barely know where to start." Kouhaku sighed, as he and Kagome sat on the banister of the back porch. Sango was gone, figuring she should beat a hasty retreat before Kagome's hearing returned.

"What does your mom do, anyway?"

"She's a nurse at a hospital in Miyazaki. That's why she comes back so late at night, 'cause of the long drive. During the summer her shifts start at nine, and she works till six."

"Yeah?" Kagome considered this a for a few moments. "She make good money?"

"Thousand yen an hour." Kouhaku shrugged. "It's good enough, I guess. We don't have to pay much in the way of the house, but as for _inside_, it's kinda different. Plus, there's the car...but it all evens out. We make a good profit farming."

"Oh, yeah?" Kagome looked uneasily at the large field.

"Yep. Lemme think...gotta give the cattle water and food, shovel the crap into the trough...then we gotta make fertilizer out of it...then we fertilize the other side of the field and start planting the tea, tobacco, sweet potatoes, and soy...the rice comes later, when it's hotter."

"That sounds like absolute hell." Kagome droned. "There is no way in the world I'm touching cow crap. You'll have to kill me first." Kouhaku shrugged again, looking out at the field.

"That's not even all. That's only the first few hours. There are three cattle to be slaughtered and sold to the butcher." Kagome's insides churned.

"_Slaughtered_?! Isn't that the butcher's job?!"

"Technically, no. For steak, we have to cut out the choice parts and separate them from the limbs and the head and all that stuff. After we skin it, the rest goes to the butcher." Kouhaku recited, and Kagome turned green.

"I don't think I'll ever eat steak again."

"Ah, you get used to it. But hamburger...that's the only thing I've never been able to eat. You do all the stuff for steak, except after you skin it, you have to put it through the meat grinder and package it. The community shares one; it's about two miles that way." He jerked his thumb south, the direction leading away from town.

"I don't think I'll ever eat _beef _again." She mumbled.

"It's really not for the faint of heart." Kouhaku chuckled.

"My heart's already fainted, thanks."

"But like I said, you get used to it. But Sango's a complete vegetarian. I don't know how she's so strong—I guess it's from cutting grass with the pushmower for a good five years."

"She probably eats it too." Kouhaku snickered at this.

"What the hell is this?" The stern voice of his older sister startled him so badly, he fell off the banister, but Kagome remained where she was, not even bothering to look at Sango.

"Ding, dong, the witch is here."

"And sitting on my freshly painted banister, no less." Sango snorted, shoving Kagome, and glaring at Kouhaku, who looked nervous. "Why aren't you doing your work? I could have sworn I specifically told you to start working the cattle part of the field."

"Uh..." Kouhaku scratched his head uneasily, and Kagome jumped off the banister, moving in front of Kouhaku in a protective stance. Sango quirked an unfazed eyebrow.

"Hey, get off the kid's case! He probably works hard, shoveling cattle crap all over the place, and now he has to come and take _yours_?"

"Oh, nice. How long have you been waiting to use _that _witty retort?" Sango drawled. "Move out of my way. I'll talk to _my _brother however I see fit, do you understand? In fact...if I'm not mistaken...your mother called. She gave me free reign to order _you _around as well."

"LIAR!" Kagome roared, panicking, but even with her horrendous dislike of Sango, she had to admit that the girl was not lying. That sounded exactly like something her mother would say.

"I don't have any reason to lie. Do you think I _want _you screwing up the work we do here? Hell no. But you _have _to do work, so _I _suggest you go down the path and feed the pigs. Their food's in that big garbage bag sitting on the side of the house..." Kagome's eyes strayed painfully to the slop bag and she almost upchucked right on Sango.

"Fuck that!" She gagged, and Sango shrugged.

"Suit yourself. But in this town, we abide by the truest word in the Christian Bible: _He who does not work does not eat_, and to put it nicely, if you ain't working, you ain't eating." Sango pushed past Kagome and Kouhaku mumbled an apology before heading into the field with his big sister. Kagome snorted.

"Must be crazy." She went to the door and tried to go back into the house, but it was locked.

"Looking for these, city bitch?" Sango called to her sweetly, dangling a keychain. Kagome's eyes widened as she wiped a bead of sweat from her forehead. The sun was going to start beaming soon...and that pig slop was seriously stenching. "There is no absolute way in _hell _that I am going to tote that fucking disgusting bag all the way down that long-ass path to feed some fucking disgusting _pigs_! NO WAY IN _**HELL**_!" Kagome screamed at her.

"Like I said, suit yourself, princess!"

"Well...I will suit myself, thank you!" Kagome wanted to cry. Here she was, hundreds of miles away from civilization—or in other words, the "city"--and she was locked out of the closest thing to comfortable. Was God conspiring against her or _what_?

"Aw, just do it, Kagome..." Kouhaku grunted, shoveling the manure into a large wheelbarrow that Sango had retrieved, and was currently holding steady. "She won't shut up until you do, and besides, it's cooler in the pig pen."

"Cooler as in more fashionable, or cooler as in less sunny?"

"The second one. It stinks something fierce, though."

"Can't be much worse than the so-called food..." Kagome looked with a despairing grimace. "Can I at least get some gloves or something? My _God_!"

"The gloves are right there on the porch, idiot." Sango shook her head with a smirk, and Kagome narrowed her eyes at her.

"Then where's the fucking wheelbarrow I'm supposed to carry this slop in, smartass?"

"Now, see, that's where you demonstrate your shining idiocy, cousin. There is no wheelbarrow. You _carry manually_. As in with your manuses." Kagome stared flatly at her and she sighed. "Your _hands_, stupid."

"I still refuse!"

"Then stay in the damn sun!" Sango snapped, getting annoyed.

"Better yet, why don't I trek over to Inuyasha's house? I'm sure it's _very _cool in there." Kagome smirked, crossing her as of yet untainted arms.

"I'm sure it is, too, because he's not there, genius." Sango pointed to the empty dirt driveway down at Inuyasha's house, indicating his absence. "Because it's Monday, which is slaughterhouse day for him, and he's guaranteed to be busy all day."

"Damn." Kagome mumbled, snapping her fingers, and her shoulders heaved in revulsion when the sun got hotter, magnifying the stench of the slop. "How in the world am I gonna...?" She looked around, desperately seeking something that would help her...

Kagome brightened considerably when she spotted a piece of knotted twine on the other side of the house. She skipped down the stairs and went to get it, but she frowned when she picked it up and saw that it was all bunched up.

"Well, shit." She huffed, working on unraveling it. "Nothing is ever easy around this place." It took quite a while of impatient movement, but in five more minutes, she had a crinkled puller, and she smiled triumphantly. When Kagome went back to the large bag, her stomach only roiled a little, her disgust pushed into the shadows by her self-satisfaction. She put on her gloves, gathered up the loose ends of the bag, and tightly tied the twine around it. Now she could pull the bag along without actually touching it!

"Now who's the genius, bitch?!" Kagome cackled, but Sango couldn't hear her; she had gone too far out into the field. Kagome rolled her eyes and set to pulling the heavy bag the distance to the pig pen.

* * *

Kagome was exhausted, hot, and humiliated. After the long trek to the pig pen—a whole six yards! It was inhumane!--she was so tired, she couldn't even dump the food into the troughs for the pigs. The smell of the pen combined with that of the slop made for one very excruciating stench. It was enough to make Kagome pass out, and that's just what she did. It was all too lucky for her and her indomitable pride that Kouhaku had come along at just the right moment to check on her, or she would have fainted into the pig feces, and that would have just been too much.

When she came to, she was propped up in a lawn chair on the front porch, a glass of water beside her and Sango smirking down at her. Foregoing her every moral, she actually begged for Sango to have mercy on her and allow her into the house.

"I can't take anymore of this backbreaking exertion!" Kagome had practically cried, to which Sango just shook her head.

"You are plain _pathetic_." She had said, then her smirk widened. "But I guess city children like yourself aren't used to this kind of thing. It wasn't much, what you did, but it could be misconstrued as a start. For your sake—and you're lucky, because I don't take pity on anyone, much less a dunce like you—I'll let you off the hook today. Being that it's your first day and all." Kagome almost kissed her cousin's feet, but that would be a bit much.

Now here she was, sitting on the couch in the living room, and she was bored. Bored! Before retreating back into the killer sun, Sango had warned, "And you better not come back outside, because if you do, you're not coming back in the house until _we _do." Fearing for her well-being, Kagome had nodded shakily. But now that she was bored, she was also torn. She didn't want to go outside and watch her cousins toil, for Sango would no doubt catch her and make her do _work _again. She had barely managed to scrub her skin raw to a satisfactory enough extent from the stink of swine sticking to her; she wasn't feeling up to another three hot baths.

She picked up her cell phone from the counter beside the couch and dialed up Kikyou, her faithful friend. _She _would chase away the boredom.

"Hello?" Kikyou finally picked up with a yawn, after about fifteen rings.

"Damn, Kik, what are you _doing_?!"

"Kagome?"

"Are you high or something?"

"No, I don't get high till six, you know that..." Kikyou's voice was pretty groggy.

"How come you're so...yawny, then?"

"You woke me up."

"Oh, I get it. You were having sex, you nasty whore!" Kagome grinned mischievously.

"No...not this time...I was just sleeping."

"Kik, it's, like, one in the afternoon." Kagome droned.

"I know...it's still early. Why are _you _up at this time of day?"

"The bumpkins woke me up...they made me do _work_, Kik!"

"What?" Kikyou sounded a little more alert now. "What kind of work? Oh, my God—did you slaughter a calf?! Because I'm anti-veal now!"

"No, no, nothing like that...I had to drag a bag of slop all the way to this horrible pig pen..."

"My _God_. It's even worse that killing a baby cow!" Kikyou groaned, feeling Kagome's pain entirely. "Is your mother on antidepressants or something?! Because she's _got _to be insane for making you go there!"

"Nah...Ma was crazy before the antidepressants."

"That is so suckful, Kagome. Honestly it is."

"And I was so bored when they let me come in the house, I just--"

"Wait. _Let _you?"

"Yeah...that fucking bitch cousin of mine intentionally locked me out of the house so I would be forced to do work! I passed out from the smell of the pig pen!"

"Kagome..." Kikyou's tone became urgent. "Please tell me you didn't faint in the pig crap. Please, just tell me that."

"No, I didn't; Kouhaku caught me before I could, thank God. But if I had...I would've had to take way more than _three _baths. I swear, Kik, I just...I don't know how much longer I can stay here without yanking all of my hair out."

"Oh, don't do that, sweetheart. You just got a perm."

"Yeah, which I've already sweated out." Kagome grumbled, flipping her limp hair out of her face. "And if the sweat weren't enough, I'm sure the many showers I took did it."

"Oh...Kagome, I am so...and there's no conditioner around there?"

"Kik, my cousin's hair is as dry as these fields they're plowing. Obviously, there is not a drop of conditioner to be found."

"If I could, baby sister, I would bring you mine...but I dare not step foot into that place, not now."

"It's like hell, Kikyou, trust me." Kagome sighed miserably. Her torment only worsened into straight-laced depression when her signal faded.

* * *

Black Ice: (grins) Kag's having such a miserable time, isn't she? Ah, well. I realize I may have exaggerated country duties a bit—I live in the country myself, you see, and I imagine it's similar enough to living in the city. But then again, this is an actual farm, so yeah.

Blood Rain: (yawns) I am _so _ready for school to be over, aren't y'all? High school boys are so damn immature, it's hardly funny...but I digress...

* * *

**WARNING! **People who are easily offended shouldn't read the next portion. It's talking about teen sex and, partially, teen pregnancy. So...yeah. If you're a mother or a mother-to-be and you're under eighteen and over twelve, you might not wanna read. It gets brutal.

* * *

Rant of the Day: Please, Ladies, Can We Keep Those Legs Closed? Please?!

Blood Rain: This needs to be said. I am so tired of walking around school and seeing at least five protruding stomachs a day. That is extremely unhealthy! What in the hell is it about sex that entices girls so much they completely forego all consequence and just _do _it?!

Hold on. Let me just...let me say really quickly, because I want _no flames_. If you've done it with your boyfriend or whatever, that's fine, I don't care, but if you're doing it with your boyfriend and your boyfriend's _friends _and your boyfriend's friends' brothers...that's what I mean. What I mean by "keeping your legs closed" does not include girls who have been raped or something. It only includes the fast chicks who fuck all kinds of boys—the whore kind. I mean fast-ass little children who just want to fuck any and every boy because they think it makes them what we down south call "grown".

NEWS FLASH! _**YOU ARE NOT GROWN!**_

Close your damn legs, damn it! What the hell is wrong with you?! I mean, my God, you must want STDs to come breaking down your door! Because they will, sweetheart—and not only that, but _pregnancy's _gonna come knocking as well. When that big-ass baby comes slamming out of your "glory hole", you'll know.

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Black Ice: (looks around nervously) Er...maybe you shouldn't have said those things...this story's got few reviews as is...you wanna diminish _that _number?

Blood Rain: Hey, the truth needs to be told, yeah? Besides, it's not like people can come and kill me. (looks menacingly into the audience) I dare you to try it...if you've got the balls.

Black Ice: Cojones!

Blood Rain: ...(blinks) Uh...yeah. Okay. Whatever.


	6. I Know You Got to Get Your Hustle On

Black Ice: Lookin' through the old computer files and found this. Hmm.

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"So, Kagome, how was your first day in the field?" Emi asked conversationally, cutting into her steak. Kagome was staring so intently at the food in front of her, she barely heard her aunt. All she could see was cow blood, cow innards, _cow_...

"Kagome, Mom asked you how your day was." Sango kicked Kagome's leg under the table and her head jerked upward, eyes wide.

"Uh...it was...eventful." She explained lamely.

"Sango didn't have you working _too _hard, did she?"

"...Nothing I couldn't handle..." Kagome smiled weakly, pressing down on her steak with her fork and nearly throwing up when the juices leaked out.

"Are you okay, dude?" Kouhaku blinked, noticing her discomfort.

"Yeah, sure, just...a little heat stroked from earlier today."

"But heat stroke involves red tinged skin, and yours has taken on a rather pale color." Sango pointed out a little smugly. Kagome narrowed her eyes at her, returning her under-the-table kick from before.

"Is there something wrong with the steak, Kagome? Oh, maybe I didn't cook it enough..." Emi bit her lip, and Kagome quickly said, "No, no, that's not it! It's great! I just...I think I need some cool air. Y'know. Outside. May I be excused?"

"Sure." Emi nodded, and Kagome got to her feet.

"Can I have your steak?" Kouhaku asked excitedly, and Kagome waved him off, signaling that he could. With a devious cackle, he grabbed her plate. Kagome walked out the front door, immediately swatting away a swarm of mosquitoes.

"AGH!" She shrieked, nearly putting her eyes out. "I hate this freaking place!" She ran down the stairs, barely avoiding tripping, and ran right into a hard body. Kagome blinked, looking up. It was Inuyasha, looking amused.

"Need some spray?" He held out a bottle to her, and she looked at him strangely.

"...Spray?"

"For the bugs. Keeps 'em away, you know."

"Right." She chuckled feebly, and took it from him. "Thanks." A strange sense of relief came over her when, after she'd sprayed it all over the exposed parts of her, the mosquitoes gradually went away. "I _really _needed that. Uh, what are you doing out here anyway?"

"Spying on pretty young girls." He smirked, and Kagome stared at him blankly. "That was a joke. You know, ha-ha?"

"Yeah, I know ha-ha, but that was just creeptastic. What are you _really _doing here? And if you give me the same answer, I'm gonna scream at the top of my lungs."

"Not that it'd matter, but just to satisfy you, I was tossin' stones."

"Oh."

"And what about you? Spyin' on handsome young men?"

"My, someone's full of himself, isn't he?" Kagome grinned. "I probably would have been, had I known you were out here, but in all honesty, I'm staving off the cow sickness."

"...Mad cow disease?"

"...No, Mr. Comedian. You're really on tonight, aren't you?"

"Nah. I just moonlight as a funnyman."

"Don't quit your day job. I'm talking about the sickness that comes with seeing beef for the first time after you've discovered how it's prepared."

"Oh. Huh. I never got that sickness."

"Perhaps that's because you're strange."

"You bein' a city girl, I thought you'd like strange."

"Who's to say I don't?" Kagome smiled simply. This covert flirting was much more to her tastes; it didn't make her long for the city so much. He chuckled.

"Then that makes me a very lucky man."

"Here's yet another question that I'm sure you'll find amusing."

"Shoot."

"Why are you _here_? As in, so close to Sango's house?" She quirked an eyebrow when he blushed, averting his face and scratching his cheek.

"I was...I, uh..."

"Because I thought you lived, like, a freaking mile away. This is quite a distance to walk, which I assume you did because I see your truck nowhere."

"I...was gonna see if Kouhaku would go to the Hole with me tomorrow. This is real good fishin' weather and I don't wanna waste it."

"Are you sure you weren't going to ask _Sango _to come along as well?" Kagome drawled, crossing her arms, and almost groaning aloud when red covered Inuyasha's face all the way down his neck.

"...She'd be welcome to come along as well...i-if she wanted to, I guess..."

"Mm." Kagome pursed her lips.

_What a drag this has been._

"I'll see you later, Inuyasha." She flicked her wrist in goodbye at him and turned to go back into the house.

"Uh, hey, Kagome?" Kagome barely turned to acknowledge that he'd called her. "Do _you _want to come tomorrow?"

"I...don't like fish."

"Oh. Okay. I'll...see you later, then." He mumbled, and Kagome didn't stick around to watch him go. She went back into the house, seeing the table cleared and Sango relaxing on the couch, watching television. From the muffled sound of rock music, Kouhaku was in his room, and Kagome presumed Emi was asleep.

"So...tell me some truth here." Kagome cleared her throat, sitting on the arm of the couch. Sango glared indifferently at her. "What's the deal with you and Inuyasha?"

"First of all, I don't think that's really your business. Second, we don't sit on the arm of our couches around here. It's considered quite rude." Sango punctuated her intonation by kicking Kagome right off the arm.

"Okay, that is _it_!" Kagome fumed, leaping to her feet from the floor, and moved in front of the TV. Sango sighed wearily. "Come on, get up! We're gonna settle this at once!"

"You're in my way. Move."

"Fuck that! You and me, right now, toe to toe!"

"You. Are in. My way. I suggest you move or I'm going to get violent."

"Then _get _violent—let's fight!" Sango rolled her eyes and touched her foot to the carpeted floor. Just the slight motion made Kagome jump so far back, she almost toppled over the television. Sango laughed hysterically, standing up.

"You really want to fight me? You should try ticking me off about something that really matters." Kagome growled, red with embarrassment and anger. "Actually, for the sake of your health...I don't think you want to fight me at all." She danced up the stairs to her room and Kagome could've screamed.

_I __**hate **__that bitch!

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_

Black Ice: For those of you who haven't been in the loop with us lately, we have decided to do a writing contest based on the unanimous vote on our poll. These are the terms.

Either me or Rain will choose one of our unfinished stories. Within the course of one month, we want all those interested to **write the next chapter of the story. **During this time period, we will not be offering our beta services. Don't ask why; we don't wanna hear any complaints.

The chapter has to be at least **five pages long**, in **12-point font **(preferably Andalus font), with specifications as follows:

**0.20" spacing below paragraph;**

**portrait orientation;**

**8.50 page width;**

**11.00 page length;**

**0.79 on all margins.**

The contest officially begins Monday June 15, 2009, at 12:00 noon.

There will be **NO FAVORITISM**. This of course means that your chapter shall be picked based on originality, grammar, punctuation, knowledge of the topic, etc.

Send ALL submissions in **.doc** file format to my email address, ikichira yahoo . com (take out them spaces, y'all). The subject line should be **Chapter Submission **and the email body should contain a short summary of what you've written.

Keep checking our website for updates about the contest information. Remember, everyone is eligible and all content is accepted as long as it conforms to the standards of the story.

I think that's about it for right now... Good luck, peoples! Come noon, come to our website to see what the first story assignment shall be!

Website Address: blackiceandbloodrain . webs . com

(Generic, we know. But do we care? Hell no. ^^)


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